I recently received a rather cryptic text from my son. He wanted to know how I programmed all my home automation devices to work. I should point out that he knows I built my own home automation system from scratch. I responded as briefly as I could and then wondered for hours what he was up to. It turns out he is getting tired of running his smart home devices through his phone.
He doesn’t have nearly the volume of devices I have. And in fact, his selection of devices is comparatively tame. But he has the same two problems so many other people have: he has a separate app for every brand in his system, and when apps are updated he runs the risk of losing functionality on some of his older devices.
Now he’s looking to escape phone-based home automation via a centralized hub that ties everything together. I am glad he has finally come around. He has been mocking me for years about being a home automation geek. But now he is starting to see the light.
A Simple Problem With No Solution
What prompted my son’s message? He has two illuminated ceramic houses (think Christmas village here) that remain on the mantle year-round. They stay up because they are special pieces inherited from his wife’s family. At any rate, they are connected to smart plugs he previously programmed to turn on at sunset and off just before sunrise.
Everything was fine until a couple of weeks ago, when the smart plug manufacturer pushed out an app update. The update broke his ability to tie the on-off functions to sunrise and sunset. So now he needs to manually input specific times.
That’s all well and good, but sunrise and sunset change throughout the year. If he wants to keep the correct timing, he needs to adjust his program every couple of weeks. The old way worked well because it automatically tracked sunrise and sunset for him. He had to make no adjustments.
The Nature of the Beast
Unfortunately for my son, and countless others, software updates breaking things is the nature of the beast. Independent device makers have a big enough job keeping up with tech giants like Google and Apple. They don’t put a whole lot of time and effort into ensuring that their apps don’t break things.
There is also the compatibility issue. Just because a smart plug works with a Google or Amazon smart speaker today does it mean it will keep working tomorrow. Support over the long term is about as reliable as the mail. Sometimes it works, other times it does not.
What Are the Options?
So now my son wants to know what his options are. I told him he basically has four choices:
1. Live With Limited Functionality
His first choice is to do nothing and just live with the limited functionality. Perhaps a future app update will restore his ability to tie the plugs to sunrise and sunset. It is certainly the option with the least friction. But there are two downsides:
- The lost functionality may never return; and
- Future updates of any of his apps could continue breaking functionality.
My son was not too impressed with his option. He is a smart guy. He knows that the app-based approach is rife with pitfalls and that things will only get worse as his devices age. So it was off to the second option.
2. Choose a Big Tech Ecosystem
His second option is to go with a big-tech ecosystem. You know the names: Amazon, Google, Apple, and Samsung. Their systems, while not 100% immune to breakage, tend to be more stable than individual, third-party apps. More importantly, his brand of smart plugs already integrates with Google, Amazon, and Apple.
This option was more attractive to my son. However, he is leery about giving big tech access to his home automation devices. And since he plans to add more devices in the future, he’s not so sure he wants to get locked in to a big tech ecosystem. Off to option number three.
3. Choose a Dedicated Provider
The third option is to transition to a dedicated home automation provider. By ‘dedicated’, I mean a company that does nothing but home automation and security. The previously mentioned big tech names have their hands and tons of things that have nothing to do with home automation. On the other hand, home automation and security is what Vivint specializes in.
Like its dedicated service competitors, Vivint got its start in home security. They have since integrated home automation technologies to create all-in-one packages that include both hardware and 24/7 monitoring. Vivint also installs everything it sells.
This option was the most attractive of the three he had heard. But my son wanted to know the fourth and final option. So I told him.
4. Build an Open Source System
The fourth and final option is something my son already knew about thanks to our previous conversations. He asked for a refresher. Of course, I am referring to building an open-source home automation system.
I was surprised to hear my son say he would give it a shot. He looked into the open-source platform I use. He studied how to install it and set it up on his laptop. In the end, he decided it wasn’t worth the effort just to control his smart plugs. So now he’s back to considering the second and third options for the long term.
A Choice for Everyone
As I anxiously await to learn of my son’s ultimate solution, I am reminded that there is a choice for everyone in the home automation world. If your first choice was the app-based approach and it’s now letting you down, you have three additional roads to explore. Go learn about them. You might just decide that there is a better way to run a smart home than on your phone.
